Difference between revisions of "Utah State Legislature"

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Qualifications to hold office

To be eligible for the office of a state Senator or Representative, a person must be a citizen of the United States, be at least 25 years of age, be a qualified voter in the district from which elected, and must be a resident of the State of Utah for three years and a resident of the district from which elected for six months.

Sessions

Section 2 of Article VI of the Utah Constitution establishes that the Legislature is to convene a new session every two years on the second Monday in January. This means that the "2010 session" was actually a continuation of a regular session that convened in 2009. Section 16 of Article VI limits these regular sessions to sixty legislative days, except in cases of impeachment.

Major issues

2011

In 2011, the Legislature was in session from January 24 through March 10. [4] A single day special session was called by Governor Gary Herbert for July 27, to consider several issues, including adjustments to health insurance rates, liquor commission guidelines, judicial evaluations, and adopting another resolution supporting a federal balanced budget amendment.[5] Gov. Herbert has called for a second special session this year, set for the week of October 3. During that week, the legislature will cover redistricting issues.[6]

Senate

The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature. It consists of 29 State Senators. Each member represents an average of 95,306 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[10] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 77,006.[11] Senators are elected to a four-year term, with half of all districts up for election every two years.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature. It consists of 75 Representatives. Each member represents an average of 36,852 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[12] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 29,776.[13] Representatives are elected to two-year terms, with all districts up for every two years.

Redistricting

2010 census

Utah received its local census data on February 24, 2011. The state showed a 23.8 percent growth rate, with no county losing population. The largest cities showed mixed growth: Salt Lake City grew by 2.6 percent, West Valley City grew by 18.9 percent, Provo grew by 7.0 percent, West Jordan grew by 51.8 percent, and Orem grew by 4.7 percent. The counties were more impressive: Salt Lake grew by 14.6 percent, Utah grew 40.2 percent, Davis grew by 28.2 percent, Weber grew by 17.7 percent, and Washington grew by 52.9 percent.[14]

Utah's 2011 redistricting process went relatively smoothly, with the Republican controlled Legislature overwhelmingly passing new maps on October 4. Governor Gary Herbert (R) signed the maps on October 19. However, the Legislature approved, and the Governor signed into law, revisions to the maps in late January 2012 after errors were discovered.

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

Utah Senate:
Throughout every year from 1992-2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the Utah State Senate. The Utah State Senate is one of 13 state senates that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. Utah was under Republican trifectas for all 22 years.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Utah House:
Throughout every year from 1992-2013, the Republican Party was the majority in the Utah State House of Representatives. The Utah House of Representatives is one of nine state Houses that was Republican for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. Utah was under Republican trifectas for all 22 years.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican State Houses of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Utah state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. During every year of the study Utah had Republican trifectas. Its SQLI ranking stayed consistently in the 20s range for the first half of the study, but gradually moved up, bringing it into the top-10 for five of the last six years of the study.

Chart displaying the partisanship of Utah government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).